WZ-10
The WZ-10 is a Chinese attack helicopter designed by Kamov of Russia and built by Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation. In development since the mid-1990s, the WZ-10 was introduced to the People's Liberation Army in December 2010. The helicopter was designed out of the need of a dedicated anti-armor attack helicopter - China had only the WZ-9 as an interim "attack" helicopter, that was in fact an armed utility helicopter - and after many efforts to acquire foreign attack helicopters failed to come to fruition. The WZ-10 can be armed with 57mm or 90mm rocket pods, or 130mm rockets, ADK-10/HJ-9/HJ-8E/H ATGMs on stub wings, and a 23x115mm cannon mounted in the nose. The helicopter has also gone into full production since its acceptance to the military. The WZ-10 appears in Battlefield 2 as the WZ-10 and Battlefield 4 as the Z-10W, both times being the attack helicopter of the PLA. In Battlefield 2, the helicopter is modeled after the Agusta A129 Mangusta due to the lack of proper information on the helicopter. It is modeled after the real helicopter in Battlefield 4. Battlefield 2 In Battlefield 2, the WZ-10 is the attack helicopter for the People's Liberation Army. Its USMC, MEC, SEALs/SAS, MECSF/Spetsnaz/Rebel, and EU equivalents are the AH-1Z Viper, the Mi-28 Havoc, the AH-64 Apache, the Mi-35 Hind, and the AS-665 Tiger, respectively. The WZ-10's main role is to provide close air support for friendly forces, anti-armor, and denying enemy helicopters' operation. It has little capability against fixed-wing aircraft. The helicopter has 2 seats, one for its pilot, and the other for the gunner. The pilot controls the flight of the helicopter, the UB-32 rocket pods, and the flare dispensers. The rocket pods contain 8 (14 before v1.2 patch) rockets, with acceptable blast radius and damge. The rockets are effective against infantry, light vehicles, APCs, and all types of aircraft, while taking more than a full barrage to destroy a main battle tank. Flares are used to break off enemy missiles and lock-ons, buying the player some precious time to escape or destroy the target, if possible. The flare dispensers have a recharge time of around 8 seconds, during which the vehicle is completely defenseless against heat-seeking missiles. The gunner has control of the 20mm gatling cannon and HJ-8E anti-tank TV-guided missiles. The cannon has a good rate of fire, supplemented by its large magazine and unlimited reserve ammunition, however, it has a 0.5 second spin up time before it can be fired, so if the player want to keep it ready faster, they can repeatedly press the fire button to keep it spinning. The cannon can make short work of infantry, light vehicles, and even aircraft to a degree if they are on the ground. The TV missile, on the other hand, is extremely deadly to all types of vehicles, and it takes only 1 missile to destroy any ''vehicle. The missile also has a very good blast radius, even larger than those of the pilot's rockets, consequently dealing damage to all targets within 5 meters around the point of impact. And since it is manually guided, the player can use it against ground, sea, or even air target, provided the player is skillful and accurate enough, though this is very difficult, and couple with the missile's low speed, it is still not an effective countermeasure to already-airborne aircraft. However, the player can only fire 1 missile before having to wait 8 seconds for the missile to reload, and they are given only 8 missiles to start off with, meaning the player needs to use the weapon wisely to avoid wasting precious missiles and time. Also, new players may not be familiar with the weapon and may reduce its usefulness. The vehicle, being a helicopter, can move forward, backward, strafe sideways, and hover in place, with the latter probably is its most useful ability. This allows the player to capture flags, or turning the helicopter into an accurate weapon platform to provide fire support. However, this also makes it more vulnerable to enemy fire, it is not recommended to stay too low in one spot for long, as the player will be an easy target for enemy tank shells, SACLOS missiles, or even TV missiles, all of which deal heavy damage, and anti-aircraft cannon and missile fire, all of which are devastating to the helicopter. The player also needs to bear in mind that the M95 can pierce through the glass of its cockpit, injuring or potentially killing the gunner/pilot. Also, the vehicle does not have any weapon to effectively counter fixed-wing aircraft once they are airborne, and combine with the speed disadvantage, the player should avoid confrontation with them at all cost. All in all, the vehicle should be used for its intended purpose: provide CAS for friendly ground forces, suppress enemy armor on the battlefield, clearing out control points, and even as an observation platform to report enemy positions to the player's team. If necessary, the player may dogfight other attack helicopters, because they are similar in mobility and speed. With a good pilot and a good gunner, the WZ-10 is extremely devastating to enemy ground vehicles and infantry, and can effectively blunt an armored spearhead. Compared to its counterparts, the WZ-10 is statistically identical to the AH-1Z Viper and the AH-64 Apache, while the Mi-35 has identical weapon stats, it trades the generally more compact size of the attack helicopters for more armor, with all of them being more oriented toward a general-purpose role, as its cannon is not as powerful as the Havoc's 2A42 and the Tiger's GIAT 30M 781. The WZ-10 is arguably the most compact attack helicopter in the game, being as slim as and shorter than the AH-1Z. It does have visibility trade-off compared to the AH-1Z though, as its cockpit doesn't provide as clear a view as the AH-1Z's view. However, this is a double-edged knife, since the framed cockpit of the WZ-10 provides better protection for its crew compared to that of the AH-1Z. Also due to its sitting layout, the chance of both the pilot and gunner getting injured/killed at the same time by the M95 or other weapons that can penetrate a helicopter's cockpit glass is basically zero. Gallery BF2.WZ-10 left side view.png BF2.WZ-10 Front side view.png BF2.WZ-10 right side view.png BF2.WZ-10 rear view.png BF2.WZ-10 Cockpit hud view.png|Cockpit view with HUD BF2.WZ-10 Gunner hud view.png|Gunner view with HUD BF2.WZ-10 Cockpit no hud view.png|Gunner view BF2.WZ-10 Gunner no hud view.png|Cockpit without HUD Wz10.png|Render of the WZ-10 Battlefield 4 The WZ-10, known in game as the '''Z-10W', appears in Battlefield 4 as the People's Liberation Army's attack helicopter and counterpart to the United States Marine Corps' AH-1Z Viper and the Russian Ground Forces' Mi-28 Havoc. Singleplayer The WZ-10 first appears at the end of Shanghai, when Tombstone is preparing to escape the city by barge. A WZ-10 with a searchlight passes over the boats, but crashes immediately after the EMP attack. In South China Sea, two WZ-10s can be seen. One attacks Tombstone's DV-15 while on their way back to the USS Valkyrie, with the player able to shoot it down with the 25mm Cannon. Another WZ-10 performs a gun-run on Tombstone squad while they are on the deck of the USS Valkyrie, fatally wounding Agent Kovic before being destroyed by the on-board Phalanx CIWS. Multiplayer The Z-10W returns in Battlefield 4. The Z-10W appears as the PLA Attack Helicopter. The Z-10W has a lower maximum speed compare to AH-1Z Viper and Mi-28 Havoc. The pilot's initial default primary weapons are the Hydra Rockets which comes in 7 rockets per per pod (total 14 rockets). The Zuni Rockets, unlocked at 17000 Attack Helicopter Score allows the use of more powerful and damaging rockets however, with an almost halved magazine count. Smart Rockets, unlocked at 38000 Attack Helicopter Score allows a more accurate fire with medium damage, limiting to 5 per pod (10 rockets total) for self-guidance when fired and within optimum proximity of the target. Each respective free-fire rockets share a similar aiming point Heads-Up-Display (HUD) in the form of a capital 'I' shape for target leading and guidance. Pilots must bear in mind that the primary rocket fire is most effective and accurate when closer to the target, but may leave operators more susceptible to ground fire. All rocket types run on limited reserve ammunition which must be left to automatically replenish for brief moments in time between reloads and firing. The Z-10W is capable of causing devastating damage to enemy armor and infantry. A well-aimed salvo of rockets can near-instantly deplete any main battle tank at to half health. The Primary and Default weapon of the secondary weapon's gunner is the 23mm automatic cannon, which performs identically with the secondary automatic cannons of the Mi-28 Havoc and AH-1Z Viper respectively. It fires high-explosive rounds dealing splash damage and is most effective against single or clusters of infantry targets, but less effective against vehicles. Like other two helicopter in the class, it too runs on limited reserve ammunition which must be left to automatically replenish for brief moments in time between reloads and firing. The Pilot and Gunner could decide to hover briefly over high-traffic areas of enemy troops to allow easier dispatch quickly of said targets effectively. Both the pilot's primary rockets and the secondary gunner's weapons's reload time can be decreased with the use of the Belt Speed vehicle specialisations. The Z-10W's pilot and gunner are given an assortment of Secondary Weapons to choose from. The Pilot's Heat Seekers allows the helicopter to engage enemy aircraft such as other helicopters, Jets or MAVs. For a more ground-attack oriented role, the pilot has the ability to equip the TOW missiles. When combined with a salvo of rocket fire with either before or after striking a target with the secondary TOW missiles, the target can be almost guaranteed to be destroyed within a single pass. The secondary gunner also has the ability to equip an assortment of secondary weapons. Laser Guided missiles allows the targeting and tracking of missiles across a considerable distance of the battlefield to strike targets accurately, although this may give away the position of the operating vehicle. The TV Missile for the gunner grants a remote-controlled missile, able to be manually piloted across the battlefield to strike any targets, both on land, sea or sky without detection until it strikes the target and dealing considerable damage to armored targets. However, the Missiles are difficult to control during flight, and cannot be aimed before firing and its cumbersome controls and difficult aiming is exacerbated if the operator experience high internet-connection latency or packet-loss. It also has the special ability to bypass Active Protection systems as it is identified as a 'vehicle' instead of an 'ammunition' or 'projectile' type object by the game engine. The secondary gunner's weapons and the aircraft pilot can combine both their attacks to devastating effects. The Secondary gunner has access to an arrangement of optical specialization upgrades such as IRNV Optics or Thermal Optics for better target acquisition and dispatch. The Zoom Optics are unlocked and equipped by default. In Hardcore Game modes, where 3D Spotting is disabled by default, thermal imaging optics are an essential to effectively utilize the helicopter's armaments to its fullest potential. Thermal Optics allow the gunner to efficiently identify enemy infantry from a greater distance and within foliage, while Zoom Optics allows the gunner to effectively engage targets at greater distances, even outside of enemy man-portable anti-air missiles, such as FIM-92 Stingers and SA-18 IGLAs. Proximity Scan, either for the Gunner or Pilot, can detect enemy infantry and vehicles close to the aircraft. This is useful for spotting and engaging enemy infantry within close range, as the pilot simply has to hover over where ever there may be enemy targets, while the scanner displays them on the mini-map. The gunner can then find and target the enemy with greater ease. However, users must also bear in mind that this specialisation is useless in Hardcore game modes, as the traditional mini map is largely disabled by default. The aircraft has an assortment of countermeasures to choose from to protect itself. The IR Flares are both unlocked and equipped by default, ejects multiple bright red flares which spoofs and distracts missile locks and incoming missiles. The ECM Jammer is considered not only more popular by helicopter and aircraft pilots, but also more effective. It can perform many roles the IR Flare is unable to accomplish such as hiding the aircraft from the minimap for a brief period of time, break weapon lock, spoof missiles but also generates glare and a smoke screen against enemies equipped with Thermal or IRNV Optics. Its effects is also known to last much longer than the IR Flares also. The Z-10W, along with all Scout and Attack Helicopters, are most effective and dangerous in maps and game modes where a Mobile Anti-Aircraft is not available or when the aircraft's operating team is in control of it only. In such maps and game mode such as Siege of Shanghai, the Attack Helicopter can operate relatively unopposed with the exception of the odd hostile Attack, Transport Helicopter or infantry missile and rocket fire from time to time, with plenty of buildings available for cover when on the retreat. If both pilot or gunner are daring enough, the vehicle operators may choose to discretely enter into the enemy un-capture base (or spawn) in order to hijack the opposing team's Attack Helicopter just as it spawns. This leaves the operating team with exactly 2 Attack Helicopters in possession simultaneously and leaving next to no aerial threats. Comparison Compare to AH-1Z, Z-10W shares nearly identical performance, but suffers disadvantage from its lower maximum speed. Gallery WZ-10.jpg|WZ_10 on the loadout screen File:PLA_Attack_Force.jpg|A WZ-10 following ground troops |undefined|link=undefined |undefined|link=undefined Category:Vehicles of Battlefield 2 Category:Vehicles of Battlefield 4 Category:Attack Helicopter